191

1792 Receipt by Tobias Lear Washingtons Personal Secretary

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:600.00 USD Estimated At:1,000.00 - 1,200.00 USD
1792 Receipt by Tobias Lear Washingtons Personal Secretary
Washington Related
1792 Receipt by Tobias Lear as George Washington’s Personal Secretary
(GEORGE WASHINGTON).
May 7, 1792, Manuscript Receipt for a payment made by Tobias Lear to William Crouch for “100 Bundles of Straw,” likely for President Washington, which was delivered to feed the animals at his home at Mount Vernon. This original document measures 4.5” x 6.5” and is faintly dampstained, with a very dark toned fold line that runs through the main line of text. This receipt has been written in brown ink, and William Crouch personally Signs at lower right, “Wm. Crouch”. The reverse has a docket with the necessary information of date, name and material, as well as bears its own receipt “No. 318.” It makes perfect sense that Tobias Lear would be the one to handle at least some of George Washington’s bills for Mount Vernon. Tobias Lear served as George Washington’s personal secretary at that time and remained a very close colleague until Washington’s death in December of 1799.
Tobias Lear arrived in Virginia in 1786 and remained when Washington was selected as first President of the United States three years later. True to Washington's word, the young man from Portsmouth became part of the family and, intimate with the most famous people of his time. The young secretary attended the Commander in Chief's inauguration in New York City, the nation's temporary capital. Later, traveling through New England, Washington made a courtesy call at Hunking street in Portsmouth, NH where he met the family of Tobias Lear. Mrs. Mary Stillson Lear, mother of Tobias V, soon become a friend of Martha Washington.